The Triple U

Today’s blog post might fall under Jim Rome’s Triple U categories — Unfunny, Uninspired, and Unreadable. I’ve sat here for a good five minutes just trying to think of a title for the blog, so I’m probably in trouble as far as material goes, too. But I haven’t blogged in a while, so I figured I owed my followers some new gems from my brain.

I really enjoyed writing the Stephen Strasburg … note, column, article, piece, whatever you want to call it — that ran in the newspaper today. I was struggling for notes topics and considered that one to be a secondary note at best. But when I began researching it and after I talked to Wingnuts manager Kevin Hooper, I realized I had more than enough for about a 750-word story, which is how long my notes columns are, anyway.

So I scrapped a couple other notes I had and went with the Strasburg angle. I think there’s about a 25 percent chance we see him in the American Association this year. I still say Washington, which absolutely HAS to sign the No. 1 overall draft pick, has about a 60 percent chance to do so. And the other 15 percent is reserved for whatever other alternatives are out there for Strasburg.

Now, will he end up in Wichita? Probably not, but it’s fun to at least examine the possibility. I was told that after I left the clubhouse yesterday afternoon, Hooper called his wife and asked if she still had the number of the wife of Keith Pegg, who works for Strasburg’s agent Scott Boras. Apparently, Hooper’s wife has the number and Hooper will try to work that connection. Anything is possible, I guess.

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The more likely scenario is that Strasburg goes to Fort Worth, since Boras has some connections with that AA franchise. That could still have some local ramifications, though, because Fort Worth and the Wingnuts won their divisions’ first half titles and could meet in the league championship series. How about a Strasburg-Gabe Medina Game 1 matchup? Ace vs. Ace, but kind of a mismatch. At least on paper.

Signing Strasburg for the stretch run would obviously improve the team. What else could the Wingnuts do to improve? The clear area for a possible upgrade would be the bullpen, but it’s tough to find teams willing to give up relievers and it’s tougher to find good relievers who aren’t already pitching somewhere. So stay tuned on that one.

Wichita’s 7-0 win last night wasn’t as dominant as it appears on paper, but it was a much-needed easy victory. Too many games lately have come down to the performance of the bullpen, and with Wichita’s relievers and offense struggling, the Wingnuts haven’t been able to pull out the close games.

Though the Wingnuts didn’t have a baserunner during the final four innings against Sioux Falls and the Canaries had baserunners all night, Wichita was never really in jeopardy. Now they’re just trying to build momentum before the upcoming long road trip and the playoffs shortly after. They obviously don’t want to be playing poorly when it matters most.

That’s all today. I now have Twitter, and I imagine this advertisement will net me at least one more follower. jdlutz7 is what you’re looking for, so find me! Later, e’erybody.